


Stay with me

by airplanemode



Category: Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: (until its not), Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bonding, Canon Compliant, Child Abuse, Conversations, Eventual Romance, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Kissing, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Mild Gore, Minor Character Death, Nightmares, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Harm, Sexual Content, Smut, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Yikes, huge tw dudes, i cant think of everything rn, no beta we die like most of the cast of danganronpa, nothing crazy i just mention it when byakuya talks about his past, oh also blood is red instead of pink in this, this is just a vent fic im sorry, touch starved byakuya
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 05:41:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29005455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/airplanemode/pseuds/airplanemode
Summary: Naegi finds himself overwhelmed after Sakura's trial....or Byakuya and Naegi really just need a hugMAJOR TW dudes please be careful
Relationships: Naegi Makoto/Togami Byakuya
Comments: 9
Kudos: 91





	1. The Chosen

_Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 a.m. and nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!_

Monokuma's voice rang through the room, along with the groan that left Naegi's mouth as he rose from his bed. Slowly and begrudgingly he made his way over to the bathroom to take a shower. Opening his door, flashes of memories of Sayaka leaning against his wall with blood splattered all around filled his head. 

Shaking the thoughts away he turned on the shower and turned around to look at his reflection in the mirror. He could see the bags forming under his eyes and the way his face hollowed out due to him not eating because he was too preoccupied or stressed to even think about putting something in his body. Of course, you couldn't see those details unless you studied his face closely which brought a sigh of relief to him because the last thing he would want is for someone to worry. 

Once he thought the water was warm enough, he peeled off his clothes and hopped in. To be honest, he hated showering. Obviously he liked being clean but the thought of seeing his own body was just revolting. There was nothing about himself that he liked- not his height, his hair, and especially not the scars littering his arms and legs. Those were especially disgusting. He looked down and saw the lines of colors ranging from bright red and dark maroons to thin white lines looking back at him. He _knew_ it was wrong and he _knew_ there were better ways to cope but why does it even matter? It made him feel better and there were no major risks as long as he was careful. He stole a quick glance to the corner of the shower and saw a shiny piece of metal flash at him. 

_Should I?_ He thought, but again- his impulse control was awful and there was no reason not to. Well, maybe there was one reason, the cameras. The thought of someone seeing him so vulnerable was quite frankly terrifying but right now he didn't care. 

He reached his hand out and grabbed the razor, feeling the weight in his hand. When he first came to Hope's Peak and learned of the situation that he was now stuck in, one of his first thoughts was how would he cope now? He didn't think there would be packs of razors among other things under his sink but then again this school wasn't supposed to be safe. 

Regardless, he held the small object to his arm and got to work, watching the white from the open wounds slowly be covered by red that bubbled over. Once he was finished, he put the razor back in the corner and watched the blood swirl down the drain as the water washed over him. He then actually begun his shower and cleaned himself.

He got out and noticed that some of the cuts were starting to bleed again so he reached under the sink and grabbed for the medical supplies that he took from the nurse's office. Gently, he wrapped the gauze around his arm and made sure that it wouldn't slip off and then got dressed.

In all honesty, he didn't feel like eating right now. It was the day after Sakura's trial and he just felt so drained. Nevertheless, he knew that he had to meet with the others in the dining hall so he dried his hair and walked out the door.

Closing the door behind him, Naegi gazed and Byakuya's door. If only he wasn't such an asshole all the time. Though even if he is an asshole, he definitely has Naegi wrapped around his finger. Jesus he would literally do anything for that man. Byakuya could tell him to jump and he would ask how high. Maybe not just like that- Naegi still had some dignity left. 

Anyways, he made his way to the dining hall and walked in to see the usual three there, Asahina, Hiro, and Kirigiri. Surprisingly all the way in the back Toko was there too.

"Hey Naegi!" Asahina yelled over to him, "You getting something to eat?"

"No i'm not feeling too hungry right now, I just wanted to pop in to say hi. For now I think i'm just gonna walk around the school for a bit." 

"Okay well have fun and remember to eat something later." Asahina gave a tired smile, Naegi knew she was distraught over Sakura and was trying not to show it.

Anyhow, he walked back out and decided to look for Togami. He was gonna try to spend some time with him even though he knew for a fact that he was most definitely going to be insulted. It didn't matter too much, it was just nice to be around him even if Togami really did not want his company.

He figured he would be in the Library as per usual, so he climbed the stairs to the second floor and reached his destination.

Naegi pushed the door to the library open and to no surprise, Togami was there. He felt a little awkward just going up to him and starting a conversation so he figured that he would just pretend to get a book and then sit down next to him and ask if he could read with him. Just being around him was enough for Naegi sadly enough. He knew that their friendship- if he could even call it that- would go no where and it would be fruitless to try to attempt anything so he was perfectly content with just having Byakuya in his presence.

He walked in and immediately walked over to the shelves of books and tried to find something to read, feeling Byakuya's stare in the back of his head. Naegi let out a small sigh, this was definitely going to be fun...

Eventually he settled on a murder mystery book, how ironic. Grabbing it, he walked over to the table where Byakuya was sitting and sat down.

"Mind if I read next to you? I'll be quiet." Naegi could feel his heart already beating faster.

"...Fine, just don't interrupt me." Byakuya spat out.

Well... at least it was something. Naegi opened the book and began to read, occasionally stealing glances to the boy seating across from him.

About 30 minutes passed when Togami started talking.

"Why do you always go out of your way to find me? You'd think by now even an idiot like you would realize I don't necessarily enjoy your company."

Wow, that definitely caught Naegi by surprise, "If you really don't want me here I can go but... I do enjoy spending time with you, even if we're not talking."

"How can you still not understand? You and I are on completely different levels, worlds even. There is no point to you even trying to spend time with me, it is a useless endeavor that will not help either of us in the long run, nothing comes from this." Byakuya said

"I don't talk to you because I expect to gain some sort of knowledge that is gonna better my life, I talk to you because I'm happy to be around you. I'm happy because you're my friend." Naegi can already tell that this conversation is most likely not going to go anywhere

"Don't call me your _friend,_ we are on completely different walks of life. You are a loser, living a loser life with loser friends. I am not. What makes me different from you is that I do not stop fighting until I win, and I am going to keep on winning." He gave a glare in my direction.

"You always talk about having to win, isn't that tiring? It doesn't sound too enjoyable..."

"Such is the fate of the chosen." Byakuya said nonchalantly

"The chosen...? You keep saying that but I don't understand what that means." Naegi questioned

"I wouldn't expect you to understand, but fine, if you really want to know then I guess I don't mind indulging you a little bit. My family runs different than most, we have a system where the head of the family couples with exceptional women all over the world in order to bear as many children possible. Then all of those children compete to see who comes out on top, and the one on top becomes the head of the family. In my particular battle, there were 15 of us but when all was said and done I was the one who was last standing- the youngest brother. Me. That is what I mean by the chosen, I was not born into my title, I earned it with my own blood sweat and tears. I put my life on the line and I _earned_ the right to be called that." Byakuya sounded somewhat melancholy throughout his speech

"Wow... that sounds really tough, I'm sorry" Naegi hesitantly put his hand atop Togami's when he suddenly heard a sniffle a few seconds later.

Naegi looked up to Byakuya to see him staring at their hands together in shock while small tears rolled down his face.

"Byakuya?! What's wrong? Did I say something? I'm so so sor-"

"No ones ever..." Byakuya's voice faded out

"No ones ever...?" Naegi tried to think when it suddenly clicked in his head, Togami has most likely never been comforted before, let alone shown any physical affection- even something as small as holding his hand, "Oh. well, do you uh, wanna talk about it?"

Togami shook his head

"Do you want to talk at all? I can just leave if you want." Naegi suddenly felt really bad for causing this kind of reaction in him. He tried to remove his hand from Byakuya's when he felt him grab his hand slightly harder, making it clear that he didn't want Naegi to go.

"Um, if you want I can just stay here and read, we don't need to talk or anything, I can just... be here... I guess." This was definitely a difficult situation he was in

Byakuya simply nodded his head and opened his own book back up with one hand still in Naegi's.

Eventually an hour or two passed and Naegi could tell Byakuya was thinking about something.

"Hey are you alri-"

"Don't you _dare_ tell anyone about what happened here okay?" Togami spat out

"O-of course not! I would be a really shitty person and friend if I did" Naegi tried to reason.

"Good" Byakuya let go of his hand and strolled out of the library, that was definitely not what Naegi expected to happen today...


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Togami feels better about asking naegi for help

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaa i hope you guys are liking this

After Byakuya left the library Naegi was not quite sure what to do with himself. It definitely took his mind for a spin- one of the heir's best talents was being able to keep a cool composure so the fact that he saw his mask crumble right in front of him just because he held his hand and showed some sympathy... it was quite shocking.

Regardless, Naegi still had some time left in the day but he just felt so drained so he ultimately decided to go back to his dorm and take a nap. He didn't really have the energy to converse with one of the other students.

He slowly made his way to his dorm room and once he entered and closed the door behind him and shuffled over to his bed, flopping over. Immediately he let out a huge sigh. There were so many things going on in his mind right now that the release of sleep would be better than sitting here and obsessing over things he couldn't control. 

It was difficult but eventually he forced himself to calm down enough that his body was able to be lulled into unconsciousness.

...

_BZZT_

Naegi shot up in bed at the sound of the... what was that? His tired mind couldn't figure it out just at that second since he quite literally was abruptly woken up from his nap.

_BZZT_

Oh, the doorbell. He wasn't sure why that scared him so much. But who was at his door? And what time was it anyways? Naegi looked over to the clock, _oh its almost 10_ _o'clock, I slept for nearly the whole day._

He arose from bed and walked over to the door with a slight wobble in his step and an aching in his bones. He really was exhausted, huh? Anyways, he didn't want to keep the person at the door waiting.

Naegi swung open his door to see Byakuya waiting there with a scowl on his face, "Took you long enough." Byakuya said matter-of-factly

"Oh! Togami, I'm really sorry I just woke up from a nap so I was just caught a little off guard" Naegi flashed him a nervous smile.

Without much hesitation, Togami walked through the door and sat in Naegi's bed, "I wanted to talk to you, after... today's events I wanted to make sure that you weren't going to say anything to the others. I had a slip-up, that's all. Don't think of it as anything more" Togami said with a scowl.

"That's all you came here for? Togami I can assure you that I'm not going to say anything, you don't need to threaten me or bribe me or whatever you were gonna do. I'm just happy I was able to be there for you, okay? I would be the worst person in the world if I used your vulnerability as some sort of blackmail. Trust me." Naegi said with concern dripping from every syllable.

Togami seemed to be a little caught off guard by these words, as if he fully expected Naegi to use this situation to get something from the heir. Naegi also seemed to notice his hesitation and started up again, "Togami... you don't think I'd actually do that... right? You might not see me as a friend but I see you as a friend and I would never want to do anything to hurt you..." Naegi said with a sad expression on his face.

Togami simply made a slight huffing noise and walked out of Naegi's dorm again. Okay that was unexpected.

A few minutes passed from when Togami left when the nighttime announcement came on.

_Mm, ahem, this is a school_ _announcement. It is now 10 p.m. As such, it is officially nighttime. Soon the doors to the dining hall will be locked, and entry at that point is strictly prohibited. Okay then... sweet dreams, everyone! Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite..._

Naegi still felt so exhausted even after taking a nap, so he had no problem going right to bed, though the conversation with Togami still bounced around in his head. Regardless, he lied down and almost immediately fell into a deep sleep.

...

Naegi awoke slowly, feeling even more exhausted than he did before he went to bed. Begrudgingly, he went through his morning routine of showering and replacing the bandages on his arms. He didn't eat anything yesterday without a second thought so he was very hungry this morning. He made his way to the dining hall to find that no one was there. _Weird_ he thought, but then realized that he took a little longer than he would have liked to when he was getting ready so he missed their breakfast meet up. It kind of stings to think that no one came to check up on him to make sure he was okay but I guess there was nothing to do about that now.

He grabbed some cereal and quickly shoved the food down his throat, he didn't realize how hungry he actually was.

Once he finished, he went to go find Togami. After yesterday's events he wanted to make sure that the heir was okay.

The first place Naegi checked was the library and he surprisingly was not there. He then went up to the third floor to check the art room, but yet again he wasn't there. This was going to be difficult wasn't it. Naegi wasn't quite sure where to look next but figured he would go to the music room, there was a big grand piano there and it just seemed to make sense that Togami would be there since no other spot seemed likely.

Naegi trudged up some more stairs and made it to the music hall but stopped outside the door when he heard music being played. It was really quite beautiful. The sound of the piano echoed and it was almost addicting to listen to so he stayed put to just listen for a little while, knowing that if he went in there the music would most definitely stop.

Eventually it did stop though, and Naegi was not completely surprised when he watched Togami leave the room. Of course he would be the one to be playing the piano like that, he expected no less from him.

Though Togami most certainly did not expect to find Naegi outside listening, when he walked through the doors and when his eyes lied upon Naegi he looked shocked and almost... embarrassed? There was a slight flush on his cheeks and ears.

"Hey Togami! I didn't know you could play like that! That was really beautiful, i'm impressed." Naegi flashed a huge smile at the latter.

Togami didn't even respond, he just looked at him and walked away, but Naegi tried to follow him. He kept talking but it was very clear that he was trying to avoid Naegi, so after a couple minutes of pestering the heir, Naegi just gave up.

Throughout the day, every time Naegi saw Togami, Togami purposefully ignored and avoided him.

_Weird..._ Naegi thought. He didn't think too much of it though because that was just how Togami usually acted, but it did seem a little odd that he was even avoiding eye contact with him, but again, he was probably just embarrassed about everything that happened within the last couple days so Naegi doesn't really blame him.

Instead of wandering around the school like an idiot, Naegi decided to spend some time with Hiro. But looking back he certainly regrets that decision... It was just a whole lot of weird conversation that he would rather not think about again...

After that traumatizing conversation Naegi decided it was time to head back to his dorm and call it quits.

Once he was back in his room and sitting on his bed he started to feel nauseous. All this pressure, it was just too much and he couldn't take it. Without thinking his feet brought him to the bathroom and into the corner of the shower where the small metal object was. There was no hesitation or second thought as he shrugged off his jacket and bandages and got to work. It felt like he was watching himself from the outside with no control over his actions anymore. He just kept going and going and going until...

_BZZT_

_You're joking..._ Naegi thought. Who the hell is ringing his doorbell right now at this very moment. He was super tempted to just ignore it and keep going until the bell rung again. He couldn't ignore it, could he? It was probably important if this mystery person was giving multiple attempts of getting his attention.

Wait. What if someone died? _Oh god were they getting me so that they could trigger the body discovery announcement?_ Thoughts kept bouncing around his head at 10000 miles per hour.

As quickly as he could he washed off the blade and wrapped his arm. It was a sloppy job but it was enough to keep him from bleeding.

He then threw on his two other jackets and ran to the door, feeling his heart beat faster with every step.

Finally, he made it to the door and swung it open expecting to see Asahina or Kirigiri but instead was faced with... Byakuya?

He looked up at him and saw worry and stress lacing the features on his face.

"Makoto..." Togami said darkly. Wow, he even called him by his first name, something was definitely wrong.

Naegi stepped aside so that Togami could walk in and he plopped down on his bed, with his head in his hands.

"Byakuya...? Are you okay? Whats wrong? Why did you come here?" Naegi felt somewhat bad for pestering him with questions but he was seriously worried.

"I came here because out of all the worms in this school, you're the one I trust the most." Togami said in a scoff.

"Oh. Uh i'm not sure if I should take that as a compliment or not but... thanks? W-what did you want to talk to me about?" Naegi was suddenly very nervous

Togami was extremely hesitant when he started talking, like a cat that was slowly walking up to you but if you made any sudden movements it would run away.

"I've... been thinking about Sakura's trial. And how I was wrong. How? How was I wrong? I've never _been_ wrong before. If we had listened to me then we would all be dead and it would be my fault." Togami's voice cracked at the word dead, and Naegi knew just then how much this was bothering him.

"But of course you're gonna make mistakes once in a while. It would be unnatural if you didn't." Naegi tried to argue

"I'm a _Togami_ , I don't make mistakes." He said with malice, mostly towards himself rather than at Naegi.

"Yeah sure, you're a Togami, but you're also _human._ Human's make mistakes, you can't expect yourself to be perfect all the time, its just unrealistic."

Togami stood up suddenly, his hands flailing in the air, "That's what you don't get! I don't have any other option but to be perfect! That's how I was raised, anything other than perfection was inexcusable."

"You're not around your family right now aren't you? What's so wrong about taking a break? If there was any time in the world for you to let loose for once it would be now. There are no outside expectations- just you." At this point Togami had sat back down on the bed, his head back in his hands.

In soft spoken voice Togami said, "If i'm not perfect then what's the point? I have no worth and everyone will leave me for it..."

"Woah, calm down there! You have to be joking right?" Naegi walked over and sat next to Togami, "Making one mistake doesn't make you lose all your worth, no sane person would abandon you for being human. And I know it's not worth much because you probably don't see me as a friend but I still think you're amazing. No regular person could ever do what you did. And before you go on a huge rant about how you're not normal or whatever and you were 'bred' for perfection just hear me out. You may act like an asshole but I still really appreciate you and look up to you. So before you go saying that making a mistake is gonna make everyone leave you just think about me. I would never leave your side for something as trivial as that. Again, I don't know how much you really care if I like you or not but at least you know that if you do lose everything, i'll still stick with you. I don't care about your money or status or any of that other useless b.s, I care about who you are and I know that under all those layers of spikes you show to keep everyone away, there's someone who cares, and that's all that matters to me. I care about your happiness, not your net worth." Naegi let out a little breath from the small rant he just went on.

Togami didn't respond so Naegi looked over at him to see if he heard what he said, when he saw Togami's shoulders shaking. He was crying. He never thought he would see Togami cry once in his whole life, let alone two times so he wasn't quite sure what to do. After a couple seconds he decided to put his hand on Togami's back- hopefully that wouldn't make things worse.

Naegi put his hand on Togami's back and starting drawing small circles as a way to comfort him when he finally heard Togami make a small whimper. More and more whimpers fell out of his mouth until he was full on sobbing. Before Naegi could even realize what was happening, Togami jumped into his arms and hugged him tightly as if he thought Naegi was going to disappear any second. Without missing a beat, Naegi hugged him back and put a hand in his hair, lightly massaging his head.

The sobs wracked Togami's whole body as he stuffed his face into the crook of Naegi's neck. Never in his life did he think this would happen- this was not how he imagined Togami at all. But then again the heir probably never showed any kind of emotion so this was most likely years of pain and suffering pouring out of him. It was like a dam that snapped, no matter how hard he tried to hold it back, he wouldn't be able to at this point.

Naegi whispered little words of comfort into Togami's ear and eventually his sobs turned into small sniffles.

In a soft spoken voice, Naegi started talking again while still holding Togami and stroking his back, "I can't imagine how awful you're life has been for you to feel like this... I'm so sorry, no one should have to go through that."

"My life isn't awful, I simply did what I had to." Togami's voice was raw and weak

"Byakuya... you- you cried the other day when I simply held your hand and showed you a tiny amount of compassion, that's not normal." Naegi said sadly

"Just, please don't leave..." Togami said so quietly that Naegi almost didn't hear it.

"I would never, I promise," Naegi could feel the full weight of Togami's body leaning against him so he knew that he was obviously exhausted, "Hey... would you wanna spend the night here? You seem really tired and I don't think you should be alone tonight."

He could feel Togami tense up but immediately relax again, "Yeah, I- sure, that's fine."

Naegi went to go stand up but Togami just tightened his grip on him, "Hey!" Naegi said with a chuckle, "I'm just going to turn off the light, I'm not leaving." Naegi looked him in the eyes and gave a kind smile.

Hesitantly Togami released his grip on the small boy. Quickly, Naegi walked to the wall and turned off the light then sat back on the bed, "Hey, get comfortable okay? I'm gonna go to the bathroom." Togami simply nodded his head tiredly and got under the covers.

Once Naegi was in the bathroom he let out a sigh of relief. During that whole ordeal he could feel his arm getting wet and he knew what that was. He peeled off his multiple jackets and saw the red that spread all over his forearm. Slowly and carefully he peeled off the poorly wrapped bandages and re-did the gauze a lot more securely. Once everything was in the trash or put away under the sink, he put his jackets back on and walked out of the bathroom and towards the bed. 

He could hear light snoring coming from Togami and he chuckled to himself. He then pulled off his shoes and found a space next to Togami where he wasn't mushed up against him but apparently when he got in bed Togami stirred awake slightly. Enough to where he turned over to face Naegi and pulled him into a hug. 

Immediately Naegi's heart sped up so much that he thought it was going to beat out of his chest.

"B-Byakuya?"

Togami woke up slightly more to where he was conscious enough to talk, but most likely without a filter, "Thank you Makoto, I really mean it," That was definitely another surprise but after tonight, nothing was going to surprise Naegi anymore because this was probably the most shocking thing to happen in his whole life.

"You don't need to thank me... I'm just happy that you trust me enough to be there for you, I appreciate it so much." Naegi looked up to see Togami looking at him.

Something in the air changed suddenly, it felt heavy and full of electricity as they stared into each others eyes. The tension was so thick that you wouldn't even be able to cut it with a knife. Then Naegi noticed something, was Byakuya moving forward? Without thinking he also slowly started to inch forward. They were so close that there noses were about to touch and he could feel Byakuya's light breath on his face. _Is this it_? Naegi thought, he decided he was finally going to close the distance when-

_Mm, ahem, this is a school_ _announcement. It is now 10 p.m. As such, it is officially nighttime. Soon the doors to the dining hall will be locked, and entry at that point is strictly prohibited. Okay then... sweet dreams, everyone! Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite..._

Both of their eyes widened in shock and then they both backed up so quickly that it looked like they got burned, "Oh! u-uh well, we should uh probably g-go to sleep right? haha..." Naegi let out an uncomfortable laugh. He wasn't sure what Togami was thinking but he could definitely tell that he was just as in shock as he was. Togami nodded slowly and put his head down. It was dark in the room but he could still see the flush that had covered his whole face. He decided that it was probably too awkward right now to practically be cuddling with Togami right now so he tried to move away but yet again he could feel Togami's grip on his waist tighten ever so slightly, trying to say he didn't want him to leave but also trying not to make it obvious. 

Hesitantly, he lied back down with his face in Togami's chest. This was probably the most comfortable he's ever been so it didn't take long for him to slowly be lulled into a deep sleep.

What were they gonna say in the morning... he decided not to think about that right now as he just enjoyed the warmth of Byakuya as he knew it wouldn't last much longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm trying to schedule writing around my school assignments rn but school is a killer especially since im doing college apps so my uploading will probably be very un-regular !!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaa im surprised that im already getting support for this since i just started but you guys are making me so happy:')

_Naegi was sitting in his shared living room with Togami, lightly chatting and laughing with him. This was the happiest he's ever felt in his whole life. Eventually Togami tells him that he's going to go into the garage to continue a piece he was working on; Togami had recently picked up a new hobby of wood-working that Naegi thought was quite cute as no one would think that *the* Byakuya Togami would be the type of person to like to work with his hands. Their whole garage was filled with different kinds of saws and wood- to the point that their cars wouldn't fit in there, but Naegi didn't mind because as long as Togami was happy, he was happy too._

_Before Togami left, he quickly pecked Naegi on the lips and then promptly walked through the door. With his sudden free-time, Naegi decided he would go make himself lunch as he was actually quite hungry. He hobbled over to the kitchen and for the next 5 minutes he crafted a sandwich that was exactly to his liking. He decided that he would also make Togami lunch too, since he knew that he would probably be pretty tired after he was done with whatever he was making. Apparently Togami was making something for Naegi's birthday that was coming up so Naegi had no idea what he was working on._

_It was quite unbelievable how happy Naegi was with his life, he'd never felt so content and so warm all the time. With a dopey smile on his face he picked up the sandwich when suddenly there was a scream that echoed through the whole house. Naegi's whole body froze with terror but then without realizing it he got up and started sprinting to the garage, running as fast as his legs could carry him. The closer he got, the more intense the smell of iron burned his nose. He could feel the cold sweat all over his body and could feel the way his knees seemed like they were going to give out any second._

_Once he got to the door that led to the garage, he burst it open with all the force in his body but he found that's all he could do. Everything was playing out in slow motion and he could hear distantly the sound of screaming, which turns out was his own voice._

_In front of him was Togami mangled beyond recognition. Somehow his hair had gotten caught in the saw which pulled his head into it too- a head which was no longer attached to his body. The skin on his face was ripped off, and in some spots was just dangling off of his head. Somehow his hand had also been cut off but that barely registered in Naegi's head. Togami's headless body kept standing though, stiffly twitching. The worst part of it all was Togami's eyes. Even though the skin on his face had either been ripped off or was just dangling, his eyes were wide open- and staring straight up at Naegi from the floor._

_He was screaming and clawing at his hair, realizing that his scalp was now bleeding. He screamed and screamed until-_

"Makoto!" Naegi's eyes opened and he shot up in bed to see a terrified Togami next to him. Without a second thought he leaped towards him and just held him as tightly as he could, scared that any moment he would just disappear. He was sobbing and gripping the back of Togami's shirt until his knuckles turned white.

Apparently Naegi had been screaming in his sleep and woke up Togami. He had been trying to wake up the smaller boy for the past couple of minutes. 

At this point Naegi had been clinging onto Togami like his life depended on his, just trying to convince himself that his dream- _nightmare,_ rather- was not real. He kept his face in the crook of Togami's neck, trying to breath in his scent, a hand in Togami's hair, and the other arm was gripping his back just trying to feel him and make sure that this was real, anything to ground himself.

Togami just sat there in shock and had no idea what to do. It's not like he's ever been in this position before, he's never even had a friend let alone know how to comfort someone- especially when they're this fragile. He just opted to putting his arms around a shaking Naegi.

"Nae- er Makoto... what caused this?" Togami said with urgency in his voice, but Naegi didn't answer. All he heard coming from the boy was quick and shallow breaths frequently being stopped by the sobs he choked out.

_Shit_ Togami thought, he could tell Naegi was most likely having a panic attack of some sort and now Togami really did not know what to do.

"Hey, look at me" Togami tried to do something to calm Naegi down but the words clearly did not register in the latter's head. If words weren't going to work he decided that he would just get his attention some other way. 

Cautiously he took his hands and placed them on Naegi's face so that he could lift up his head. Once he did so, he had Naegi look him straight in the eyes. Luckily that was the right move as Naegi went from sobs to whimpering and shallow breaths. He was still panicking though so he again tried to say something but to no surprise Naegi didn't seem to understand what he said. 

Togami lowered his head so that his mouth was right next to Naegi's ear and spoke in a low voice, "Come on, you need to calm down a little bit. Breathe with me okay?" Togami then pushed Naegi's head against his chest so that he could feel the rise and fall of Togami's chest as he breathed. Slowly but surely Naegi followed along to the point where he was no longer struggling to breathe and there were just tears falling down his face. 

He'll be honest, he has no idea what he's doing. He's never had to calm someone down from a panic attack so he just pulled some b.s out of his ass, using things he'd seen in the media. That was really his best shot but whether or not it was completely improvised, it worked.

Once he was sure that Naegi was calmed down again, he took the fragile boys head in his hands and looked him in the eyes again, "What happened?" Togami tried to sound cool and composed but his voice definitely failed him. Worry and fear covered every word that came out of his mouth.

"I-I had a nightmare." Naegi sounded so broken

"Are you okay with talking about it? You don't have to if you don't want to." Togami had even shocked himself, he had never been this kind and patient with anything in his whole life but for some reason Naegi just melted him and even stripped him of his core mannerisms.

"No... I can, I feel better now. It was, well it was about you." Naegi struggled to get out the words.

That definitely took Togami by surprise, what could he have possibly done in Naegi's dream to get him this riled up? It certainly wan't going to be good.

"I had a dream that we were..." Naegi didn't want to outright tell Togami that he dreamed of them living a peaceful, loving, and domestic life so he decided to be vague about that part, it wasn't really important, "We were hanging out and in my dream you had a wood working hobby so you went into the garage and started working while I was in the kitchen making us lunch. While I was doing that I heard you scream so I dropped everything and ran into our garage and saw you... you w-were..." Naegi's voice started to shake so he took a deep breath and then continued, "Somehow you had gotten caught in the s-saw that you were working with. It um, it decapitated you and left you extremely mangled..." tears started falling down his face again but he pushed on, "I-I remember seeing you and screaming until you woke me up."

Togami couldn't hide his shock. His eyes were wide while thoughts were running through his head. First of all, he didn't miss Naegi's use of the word 'our' when he was talking about the garage so it was clear that they were living together but he purposefully tried to leave that out. Second of all, he was almost flattered that his well-being was so important to Naegi that he had this kind of reaction to something like that, but then it also completely broke his heart that he had to dream that at all. Some sort of natural protective instinct kicked in as he immediately wrapped his arms around this small broken boy.

"Wow... I'm- I don't even know what to say... I'm so, so sorry." Once again his expectations for himself were blown out of the water. Togami doesn't _apologize,_ but for some reason that was the only thing he could think and say.

Naegi also seemed surprised as he looked up at Togami with eyes filled with shock, fear, and mostly appreciation.

"And i'm sorry that you had to deal with that, I know that was a lot..." Naegi was suddenly ridden with guilt.

"No don't be, I'm just happy that I was here to help you rather than you being alone and trying to handle it yourself." _Seriously?_ Togami cringes internally at his sappy words. What the hell was this boy doing to him...

"Um, do you think we can lay down again? I don't think I wanna sleep just yet but I feel really tired." Naegi said timidly

"Sure, whatever you please." Togami lied down and pulled Naegi onto his chest, "...If it makes you feel better, I hate wood-working."

Naegi let out an airy chuckle which pleased Togami. They lied there together for who knows how long, just silently enjoying each others company. If Naegi was being honest, it was nice seeing this side of Togami, the side that cared. He was so used to his chilly exterior that always pushed people away, so now that he was being kind and compassionate, Naegi fell even harder for him.

While he was laying on Togami's chest, he could hear his heartbeat. It was a constant reminder that he was here and that he was okay. After everything that they had went through, trials, executions, somehow this rattled him most of all.

Maybe if it wasn't late at night and they both weren't delirious they would realize how not friend-like this whole situation was, but it didn't really matter at this point.

Eventually they both fell into a better sleep than they've ever had since coming to this school.


End file.
